Page image
Page image

A—4a

a total capacity of 35,500 gallons and a catchment area of 2,700 square feet. At Atafu the two tanks have a total capacity of 42,500 gallons with a catchment area of 2,700 square feet. On Fakaofo there are two wells, and On Atafu one of a less satisfactory nature, all of which are available for use for washing purposes. Three of the tanks, one in each atoll, have been completed within the last few years. The provision of additional storage-capacity has reduced the number of drinkingnuts previously consumed, and this should increase the amount of copra available for export. According to normal public-health standards, however, the available supply of fresh water on each atoll is still inadequate, and attention will be given in future to the examination of such local conditions as may make it possible to increase the freshwater supply. The large meeting-houses in each village, for instance, might be suitably roofed so as to provide additional catchment areas, and extra tanks could then be erected alongside. Forty-four-gallon drums are, in some cases, used as reservoirs alongside trees, but the danger associated with this method is that diseases borne by mosquitoes might thereby be encouraged, as it is difficult to induce the people to keep the drums covered. In 1925 it was reported that there was no mosquitoes, but recent inspections have shown that a few mosquitoes are present in each atoll. The increase in the available water-supply might make it easier to combat the present prevalence of skin-diseases, but it would be necessary to educate the Islanders to make proper and regular use of the additional water-supply if extra tanks were installed. 111. EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS 10. Education Village schools under Mission pastors or catechists are maintained on each island, education being limited for the most part to elementary arithmetic, reading and writing the Samoan language, and scriptural literature. It has not been possible up to the present to establish there Samoan teachers, as the Islanders themselves prefer the present arrangement owing to the difficulty of maintaining suitably in the atolls strangers from other Groups who are accustomed to a different mode of life. Some assistance has, however, been afforded the Mission schools. The Superintendent of Schools from Samoa paid a visit to all atolls in 1945. Stationery, materials, and other equipment have been supplied from time to time, and it is intended to send also School Journals in Samoan, and, as they become available in the future, elementary text-books in the Samoan and English languages. Additional listening sets are on order for distribution to institutions and villages in Samoa, and when these arrive it is proposed to make one available to each of the Tokelau atolls ; this will ensure that children in the Tokelau schools have an opportunity of listening to regular education transmissions from Samoa. Certain of the brighter Tokelau children are sent from time to time to attend London Missionary Society or Catholic Schools in Samoa. Likely lads have also been chosen to receive training in Government schools with a view to appointing them later as clerks, radio operators, or, as the Tokelau people have themselves requested, possibly as medical cadets with a view to later training as medical practitioners if they prove suitable. IV. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 11. Soil Analysis Samples of the soil or coral rubble from each of the three atolls sent to New Zealand for analysis by the Cawthron Institute in 1945 showed a large percentage of coarse particles which failed to pass the 2-millimeter-mesh sieve. This coarse fraction contained approximately 90 per cent, of calcium carbonate, leaving only 10 per cent, for the soil, stones, and organic matter contained in the coarse fraction. 2—A 4a

9

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert